Magazine kit for repeating rifles

ABSTRACT

A magazine kit for rifles which comprises a magazine readily inserted into and removed from the magazine chamber comprised of a rectangular cartridge housing and means for urging the cartridges outwardly therefrom. The machine is provided with a floor plate having lips at each end thereof adapted to engage grooves in the rifle body to maintain the housing within the magazine chamber and latch means which is readily installed in the rifle without modification of the rifle.

United States Patent [191 Haines et a1.

[ MAGAZINE KIT FOR REPEATING RIFLES [75] Inventors: David E. Haines, Fort Ashby; James D. Troutman, Keyser, both of W.

[73] Assignee: said Troutman, by said I-Iaines [22] Filed: July 28, 1972 21 1 Appl. NO.I 276,049

[52] U.S. Cl. 42/6, 42/50 [51] Int. Cl F41c 25/00, F410 25/02 [58] Field of Search 42/6, 50, 49, 22, 18-18.4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1894 Mauser ..42/50 10/1953 Salas ..42/6

2,657,489 11/1953 Robertson, Jr. 42/6 2,875,544 3/1959 Krieger 42/50 2,205,967 6/1940 Wise 42/50 [451 Apr. 16, 1974 3,019,542 2/1962 Manthos 42/18 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 238,525 2/1911 Germany 412/18 Primary ExaminerBenjamin A. Borchelt Assistant Examiner-C. T. Jordan Attorney, Agent, or FirmGardiner, Sixbey, Bradford & Carlson [5 7 ABSTRACT A magazine kit for rifles which comprises a magazine readily inserted into and removed from the magazine chamber comprised of a rectangular cartridge housing and means for urging the cartridges outwardly therefrom. The machine is provided with a floor plate having lips at each end thereof adapted to engage grooves in the rifle body to maintain the housing within the magazine chamber and latch means which is readily installed in the rifle without modification of the rifle.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures MAGAZINE KIT FOR REPEATING RIFLES This invention relates to magazine kits for firearms which may be used with many different models without modifications to the firearm. The present magazine kit is particularly well adapted for use with such rifles as the Springfield, American Enfield and Mausers.

There have been attempts heretofore to provide magazines for such firearms as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,997,803, 3,092,924 and 3,235,994. Many problems have been encountered in the use of such devices. In many instances, due to variations in the dimensions of the various guns, the latch means for the magazine will not function properly. When springs are used as latches, they very often do not hold the magazine securely in place.

It is an object of this invention to provide a kit which includes a magazine which is readily removable from and insertable into many various types of firearms without modification of the firearm and latch means for securing the magazine in place.

This and other objects of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description and the attached drawing, in which:

FIG. I is a side view, partically in section, of the magazine inserted within the housing of a conventional rifle;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 with the magazine partially removed from the housing;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the elements of the magazine;

FIG. 4 is a side view, partially in section, of a modification of the magazine inserted within the housing of a conventional rifle;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 with the magazine partially removed from the housing;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the elements of the modified magazine; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the magazine I0 is comprised of a rectangular housing 12 having side walls 14 and 16 with inwardly curved portions adjacent their upper edges. The end I8 is provided, adjacent its upper end, with an arcuate cutout portion 20. The other end wall 22 is provided with cutout portions 24 and 26.

Slidably mounted within the housing 12 is a follower 28. A folded leaf spring is secured to the follower 28. The bottom plate 32 is rigidly secured to the housing 12 by brazing, welding or other suitable methods. The bottom plate 32 is provided at one end with a boss 38 having a lip 40 extending therefrom. The lip 40 is adapted to be inserted into a groove 42, which groove is conventional in most repeating rifles.

The other end of the bottom plate 32 is also provided with latch means. A further boss 44 is secured to the bottom plate 32 having a hole 46 therethrough and a lip 48. The lip 48 is adapted to engage a groove 50, which like the groove 42 is also conventional structure. It is apparent that with the housing 12 positioned as shown in FIG. 2, the lips 40 and 48 are free to move upwardly until adjacent the grooves 42 and 50. The housing 12 is then moved forwardly to seat the lips 40 and 48 in their respective grooves 42 and 50 as shown in FIG. I.

It is conventional to provide a spring biased pin to hold the magazine floor plate in place in most rifles of the type referred to above. This conventional pin is removed from the bore 52 and replaced by a latch pin 54.

The latch pin 54 is urged downwardly by a spring 56 against a stop member 58. The latch pin 54 differs from the conventional pin provided in these rifles in that it is provided with a fingerpiece 60 which protrudes from the gun body. In this manner the latch pin may be actuated by the finger instead of requiring a tool of some sort as is the case in the conventional rifle.

It will thus be understood that the latch pin 54 will maintain the bottom plate 32 in the position shown in FIG. 1. When it is desired to remove the magazine, the latch pin 54 is pushed upwardly by pressing a finger against the fingerpiece 60 and sliding the housing 12 rearwardly until the lips 40 and 48 clear the grooves 42 and 50, as shown in FIG. 2. The magazine will now drop free of the chamber.

In a further embodiment of the invention, most of the elements are the same as described as above and will be referred to by the same numerals with prime indication.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4-7, the bottom plate is moveable relative to the housing 12'. The bottom plate 32' is slidably secured to the housing 12 by means ofa plurality of L-shaped members 62 rigidly secured to the bottom plate 32. The L shaped members 62 engage inwardly-extending portions 64 and 66 on the side walls 14 and 16' as best shown in FIG. 6.

In this manner the bottom plate 32' is free to move relative to the housing 12'. This movement is limited in one direction by engagement of the boss 38 with end wall 22' and in the other direction by engagement of the nut 68 on the screw 70 extending through an aperture 72 in the bottom, plate 32' with the other end wall 18'. The extent of movement is sufficient to free the lips 40' and 48' from the grooves 42' and 50' as shown in FIG. 5. I

When the magazine 10 is to be inserted into the magazine chamber 34' ofa gun, the bottom plate 32' is slid to its rearward position with the nut 68 abutting the end wall 18. A lip 40' on the boss 38 is adapted to be inserted into the groove 42.

The rearward end of the bottom plate 32 is also provided with latch means. A further boss 44; is secured to the bottom plate 32 having a hole 46' therethrough and a lip 48. The lip 48' is adapted to engage the groove 50 in the same manner as described regarding the first embodiment.

When the magazine is fully inserted in the magazine chamber 34 as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom plate 32 is slid forwardly with the lips 40' and 48 inserted in the grooves 42 and 50'. v

It will thus be understood that the latch pin 54 will maintain the bottom plate 32' in the position shown in FIG. 4. When it is desired to remove the magazine, the latch pin 54' is pushed upwardly by pressing a finger against the fingerpiece 60' and sliding the bottom plate 32' rearwardly until the lips 40' and 48' clear the grooves 42' and 50' as shown in FIG. 5. The'rriagazine will now drop free of the chamber.

The magazine housing 12 is formed toassure smooth and rapid removal of the cartridges during operation of the gun. The cartridges rest on the follower 28 and are urged upwardly by the spring 30. The cartridges are held in the magazine by the inwardly curved edges of the side walls 14 and 16. In conventional magazines the holding portion of the side walls extends along the length thereof for only a short distance. In the present invention, the inwardly curved portion extends along substantially the full length of the side walls. In this manner the cartridges are accurately aligned for insertion into the firing chamber.

The manner in which the magazine is held in the magazine chamber results in a very secure latching even though the magazine chamber may be slightly larger than the magazine housing. The magazines are adapted to fit most any rifle of the type referred to. The kit provides all necessary parts to enable the use of the magazine without modification of the gun.

In rifles such as the Springfield the magazine chamber is large so that the magazine of the rigid construction as illustrated in FlGS. 1-3 may be used. With rifles such as the Mauser or Enfield the chamber is of such size that the magazine for the cartridges fits snugly therein and the magazine with the slideable bottom plate is recommended. With the Mauser, some may use slightly smaller cartridges than conventional and in this event, the magazine would be smaller so that the rigidly constructed magazine could be used.

What is claimed is:

1. A magazine kit for repeating rifles having a magazine chamber comprising a magazine including a rectangular housing formed by side walls, forward and rearward end walls, and a bottom plate, means within said housing for urging cartridges to the open top of said housing, first latch means on each end of said bottom plate comprising rigid liplike members adapted to be seated in grooves in the rifle when positioned in the magazine chamber of the rifle, second latch means adapted to be mounted in said rifle to maintain said first latch means in locked position, a plurality of L- shaped members rigidly secured to said bottom plate and having horizontally extending legs, said side walls having inwardly extending portions along the bottom edges thereof which are positioned between said horizontally extending legs and said bottom plate to permit movement of said bottom plate relative to said housing, and means adjacent each end of said bottom plate to limit movement of said bottom plate whereby said liplike members are seated in said grooves by movement of the bottom plate relative to said housing.

2. A magazine kit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second latch means prevents movement of said bottom plate relative to said housing.

3. A magazine kit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said side walls terminate at their upper edges in inwardly curved portions along substantially the full length. 

1. A magazine kit for repeating rifles having a magazine chamber comprising a magazine including a rectangular housing formed by side walls, forward and rearward end walls, and a bottom plate, means within said housing for urging cartridges to the open top of said housing, first latch means on each end of said bottom plate comprising rigid lip-like members adapted to be seated in grooves in the rifle when positioned in the magazine chamber of the rifle, second latch means adapted to be mounted in said rifle to maintain said first latch means in locked position, a plurality of L-shaped members rigidly secured to said bottom plate and having horizontally extending legs, said side walls having inwardly extending portions along the bottom edges thereof which are positioned between said horizontally extending legs and said bottom plate to permit movement of said bottom plate relative to said housing, and means adjacent each end of said bottom plate to limit movement of said bottom plate whereby said lip-like members are seated in said grooves by movement of the bottom plate relative to said housing.
 2. A magazine kit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second latch means prevents movement of said bottom plate relative to said housing.
 3. A magazine kit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said side walls terminate at their upper edges in inwardly curved portions along substantially the full length. 